Petco Barking About Benefits Magazine Q3 2012

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Free Money

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Free Money

Petco Matching Contributions Paws down, matching contributions are the best thing since catnip. A matching contribution is “free money” that Petco adds to your account each pay period as long as you make a contribution to your 401(k) account yourself. Petco will match $0.50 of every dollar you contribute up to 6% of pay (3% for Directors and above). This means if you have a salary of $25,000 and contribute 6% to your 401(k) account, you’ll receive a $750 matching contribution from Petco. Be sure to contribute at least 6% of your pay (3% for Directors and above) to the plan to get the full matching contribution from Petco.

Vesting—You Own It! Simply put, vesting means ownership. You always own 100% of your contributions, any rollover amounts, and any investment earnings. This means if you leave Petco or retire, the full value of your savings, rollovers and investment earnings will be paid to you. You earn ownership of company matching contributions at a rate of 20% per year, so after 5 years you are fully vested in Petco matching contributions.

Years of Vesting Service

Percentage Vested in Petco’s Matching Contributions

Less than 1 year

0%

1 year

20%

Here’s Help

2 years

40%

Try Fidelity’s take-home pay calculator to help plan your budget and determine how much you can invest in the 401(k) Plan. Go to www.401k.com in the Guidance & Retirement section under Tools & Calculators .

3 years

60%

4 years

80%

5+ years

100%

The Importance of Starting Early The sooner you start saving, the faster your account balance will grow. By saving just 6% of your pay each pay period, you can accumulate more money for the future and retirement than you might think possible – especially when you add Petco’s matching contribution.

Here’s an example of how the savings can add up showing the difference in saving for an associate who saves for 30 years and an associate who saves for 20 years. Our example assumes both associates have a starting salary of $30,000 and receive an annual increase of 3% each year. Both associates contribute 6% to the 401(k) Plan and Petco contributes a 3% matching contribution. The investment return is 8% compounded daily. Associate A begins saving in year 1. Associate B begins saving in year 10.

It Pays to Start Saving Sooner

after 30 years $452,670

+$286,940

n Associate A saves for 30 years n Associate B saves for 20 years

$450K

400K

350K

300K

after 20 years $165,730

250K

200K

150K

100K

50K

$0

1 year 10 years

20 years

30 years

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